Top 10 Guitarists and Bassists Who Played a Headless Guitar or Bass

Metal_Treasure
Headless design is futuristic, minimalist, odd and a bit scary - it's like there's no head on the guitar and bass necks.

Headless electric guitars and bass guitars were designed and originally manufactured by Ned Steinberger. Steinberger became a brand of distinctive headless instruments. The name Steinberger has been applied to different instruments but it's usually associated with a "headless" design of electric guitars and bass guitars.

I mention where and when these musicians played headless instruments but this isn't a full list of all their songs with the use of Steinberger.

The Top Ten

1David GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour is an English singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He joined the progressive rock band Pink Floyd as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1968.

You can see he plays a headless guitar in a YouTube video titled 'Smoke on the Water with Queen, Pink Floyd, Rush, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc.' (by the way this is one of the most incredible cover songs ever).He also used a Steinberger headless guitar for the recording of Pink Floyd's song 'Sorrow'. Gilmour gave details:"That very nasty distortion you hear at the beginning of the song is basically the result of the Steinberger going through two little amps in the studio - a Fender Super Champ and a Gallien-Krueger. I use a Boss Heavy Metal distortion pedal and a Boss digital delay pedal, which then goes into the Fender Super Champ. And that in combination with the internal distortion on the Gallien-Krueger was how I got that particular sound." - Metal_Treasure

2Geddy LeeGeddy Lee Weinrib, known professionally as Geddy Lee, is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush.

For example, he played a headless bass during the Grace Under Pressure Tour 1984. The full concert is available on YT and you can see it. - Metal_Treasure

3Eddie Van HalenEdward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen.

He used a Steinberger headless guitar at least in these songs (but maybe there are more):- "Get Up" and "Summer Nights" (from 5150)- "Fire in the Hole" (from Van Halen III)- "Me Wise Magic" (from Best of Volume I). - Metal_Treasure

Eddie's AMAZING! - PhoenixAura81

4Paul Masvidal

Amazing guitarist! Its like David Gilmour playing Death Metal, just check out the album 'Focus' by Cynic or even their later records. His playing is phenomenal even in Death's notable record 'Human'. Many Djent bands are also influenced by Cynic/Paul Masvidal. Underreated but totally talented!~ by, Siddharth.

5Billy GibbonsWilliam Frederick "Billy" Gibbons is an American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band ZZ Top.

He played a Teuffel Birdfish guitar (the same or almost the same badass model Kirk Hammett played). - Metal_Treasure

6Kirk HammettKirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and songwriter for the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus.

That's so awesome! Kirk is the BEST! - PhoenixAura81

During the World Magnetic tour he used a headless Teuffel Birdfish guitar. It looks so badass. - Metal_Treasure

7Mark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and film score composer. He is best known for being the frontman of the British band Dire Straits.

8Mike Rutherford

9Brendan Cygnus Brown

In this image you can see how this design looks like.Brendan is the former Ne Obliviscaris' bassist (2005-2017). This design suits him as well as Ne Obliviscaris' music in general.As seen in: Ne Obliviscaris - Curator (Official Music Video) - Metal_Treasure

10Simon Girard

As seen in: Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution, Coexistence (official videos).Actually 3 band members play headless instruments in these videos - both guitarists and the bassist. Only the drummer doesn't, for obvious reasons.They play technical death metal. - Metal_Treasure

The Contenders

11Chris WolstenholmeChristopher Tony "Chris" Wolstenholme is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the alternative rock band Muse.

He used a headless bass during a live show while playing Uprising. I can't remember the show's name and date. So far as I know. - Userguy44

12StingGordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE, known professionally by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the lead singer for the English band The Police

Sting was a guitarist? Did not know that. - PhoenixAura81

13BucketheadBrian Patrick Carroll, known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist who has worked within many genres of music.

19David BowieDavid Robert Jones (January 8, 1947 - January 10, 2016) was an English singer born in London, the son of a fundraiser and a waitress. He is credited for his experimental and creative musical discography which has won praise and accolades for many critics and fans. ...read more.

Mr. Bowie plays one in the music video for "Valentine's Day".

20Victor WootenVictor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, producer, and recipient of five Grammy Awards.